Tsushima City was newly born in March 1, 2004. The city is composed of six boroughs of the island: Izuhara, Mitsushima, Toyotama, Mine, Kamiagata and Kamitsushima. The entire island of Tsushima is aiming at making a new city.

City Emblem
The city emblem is composed of the Japanese characters "tsu"(つ)from the initials of the city name,Tsushima. The six "tsu" stands for its six consolidated boroughs. The flow of time that connects the history and future development of Tsushima is represented there.

Flower of the city:Genkai Tsutsuji
(Genkai azalea)

Bird of the city:
Korai Kiji (Korai pheasant)

Tree of the city: Hitotsubatago
(Chinese fringe tree)

Nature

Tsushima is such a nature-blessed island. The forests amount to 89% of the whole island, and primeval forests remain in Tatera Mountain in Izuhara and Shiratake Mountain in Mitsushima. They are designated as special natural treasures. Also, 200m to 300m mountains ranging to the coast and a 100m high cliff show awesome nature.

Aso wan (Aso Bay) is located in the central part of Tsushima, and it is one of the representative scenic places in Tsushima. Various sizes of inlets and islands make a complicated phase of a rias coastline, and it is designated as Iki Tsushima National Park.

Animals, which can be seen only in Tsushima, such as Tsushima wildcats, and continental animals and plants from the Korean Peninsula live in such abundant nature. As Tsushima is a relay point for migratory birds, it is prominent observatory in the world.

There is Tsushima Wild Animals Protection Center in Kamiagata for the purpose of protection and studying of the wild animals.

Weather

Tsushima is surrounded by the sea, and the oceanic climate features the warm air with high rainfall. A monsoon blows yellow sand from the Asian Continent in the springtime. It is also the season of ‘3 cold days and 4 warm days’ which cold days and warm days take turns. Although there is about a month long rainy season, it is quite cool in summer. Typhoons sometimes come in autumn and there is high rainfall, but there are more sunny days around October. A seasonal wind from the continent blows strong and makes winter cold, but snow usually doesn’t lie on.

Temperature

Precipitation

The History

Tsushima was a window of Japan to introduce culture of stone implements and bronze wares, rice farming, Buddhism and Chinese characters from a continent, because of a geographic feature of being the closest part of Japan to the Korean Peninsula. Foreign trade with the Korean Peninsula was also prosperous from early days. There are many cultural assets, such as books, Buddhist statues, buildings, the ruins of Kanedajo (Kaneda Castle) that was made by a Korean method of castle construction and ancient tombs from such active interchange.

Despite such good relationship with the Korean Peninsula, interchange stopped for the wars of Bunroku and Keicho from 1592 to 1597. However, Muneie who was the lord of the domain of Tsushima, which yields a hundred thousand koku of rice, tried to resume interchange with the Korean Peninsula by guiding Korean correspondents to Edo.

There was a period that interchanges between Tsushima and the Korean Peninsula didn’t work well in the Twentieth Century. However, the Korean Peninsula was still geographically close to Tsushima, and there had been a history of good relationship. Nowadays, a regular line has been opened between Tsushima and Pusan in Korea, and cultural, economical and educational interchange has been lively resumed.